After the system set its sights on the dragon throne, the princess started courting death every day.

Xiao Ru: "Rumors are spreading like wildfire: 'You fell in love at first sight with the Third Prince at the banquet, but unexpectedly, he didn't reciprocate your feelings and instead fell for Ren Xueqing. So much so that later at the Lotus Banquet, when you saw the Third Prince talking to Ren Xueqing, you impulsively drugged him with 'Spring Breeze Smile,' intending to force yourself on him. However, you were caught red-handed. His Majesty, in a fit of rage, confined you to your quarters.'"

"But! Whether at the banquet or the lotus banquet, I have always been with you, never leaving your side. The princess has never even spoken to a man alone. How could there be love at first sight?"

"Furthermore, Chunfengxiao was clearly prepared by the princess for General Anwu. Although I don't know how it ended up in His Majesty's teacup, I know that Chunfengxiao has absolutely nothing to do with the Third Prince Di! How could you possibly force yourself on him!?"

She spoke with righteous indignation, which made Xiang An feel embarrassed. He silently added in his heart, "Silly girl, Chunfengxiao has nothing to do with General Anwu."

He coughed lightly a few times, suppressing a laugh, and turned his head. When he saw the imperial edict for the marriage alliance enshrined on the table, a strange thought flashed through his mind. Xiang An pondered, "What a coincidence."

Coincidentally, only seven days after the imperial edict was issued, the rumors had already spread throughout the capital.

Would an emperor who dotes on her really bear to let her travel thousands of miles from home? This doesn't seem like something a loving emperor father would do.

Unfortunately, the emperor issued an edict for a marriage alliance.

confusing.

Wait a minute, let's examine the rumors more closely: she attended the banquet and the lotus banquet; the "Spring Breeze Smile" incident was orchestrated by her; and the emperor confining her to her quarters happened.

She was present at every single event, and she remembers them all. But how did all of these events, when strung together, create such an absurd, unbelievable, yet convincing new story?

To be fair, if Xiang An hadn't been the person involved, her thoughts would probably be almost identical to the rumors.

Rumors are a mix of truth and falsehood, with different stories haphazardly interwoven, making them extremely difficult to distinguish. Especially since the emperor is often involved in these rumors.

Men and women alike value their reputation, and emperors place even greater emphasis on it.

Clearly, the rumor-mongers took this into account; the rumors perfectly concealed the emperor, leaving only her to be the subject of public criticism.

The rift between her and the emperor had already been created by the Chunfengxiao incident, and the emperor, whether for the sake of his reputation or for some other reason, would never openly take action.

The timing and severity of the rumors were perfectly timed.

Under the heavy pressure of rumors, it's either her bowing to the rumors, or the royal family bowing to them; if the royal family bows to them, it means the emperor bows to them.

The consequences of the rumors are ultimately twofold: at worst, she loses her life; at best, she is forced to marry a foreign ruler and never return to the capital.

Two different choices, but with the same goal—to make her disappear.

A confluence of factors? There's no such thing as a coincidence in the world.

However, she didn't know many people after she transmigrated, and she didn't unlock many of the original owner's memories either. Among the people she knew, she didn't have any enemies, nor did the original owner.

So, who in the capital hates her so much that they want her to disappear immediately? Is it someone whose original owner offended someone whose memories haven't been unlocked yet?

This possibility cannot be ruled out.

Could it be that the mastermind behind the poisoning and killing of the original body has appeared?

Thinking about it this way, it does make sense, but then comes the biggest problem—the emperor.

The clues were like a tangled mess, and Xiang An couldn't find the end. Xiao Ru in front of him had already cried until her eyes were red: "Princess, what should we do?"

"There's nothing I can do." Xiang An had to stop thinking about the headache-inducing problem. He used small iron tongs to poke the charcoal in the brazier, making the fire burn even more fiercely. "Seven days ago, you couldn't even enter the princess's residence. Why are you able to enter today?"

Xiao Ru's tears flowed uncontrollably: "Someone from the palace has come to summon me to serve the princess, saying... saying that the princess will soon be married off to the Yan Kingdom..."

Xiang An scolded in a low voice: "What are you crying about? It's just a marriage alliance, not sending someone to their death."

Xiang An intended to comfort her, but Xiao Ru cried even louder after hearing this. Now, she was completely at a loss. She was never good at comforting people, so she hurriedly summoned two nannies to take her to the side hall to soothe her.

The crying stopped, and Xiang An sat by the window watching and listening to the rain. His thoughts gradually drifted away, and his expression grew serious.

She already had an uncertain guess in her mind: the rumors were coming on strong, and the emperor must have realized there was a problem. In order to prevent things from getting worse, the emperor chose to cut the Gordian knot and quickly suppress the rumors.

This approach cannot be described as overly simplistic; in some respects, it is even quite correct, though the cut itself is rather foolish.

The rumors were false, and the emperor knew it perfectly well.

Why did the emperor go to such great lengths to issue the imperial edict for a marriage alliance when a simple statement like "the rumors are false and the matter should end here" would have been enough?

Why did the person chosen for the marriage alliance change from Ren Xueqing to her?

Why didn't the emperor stop the rumors?

If the emperor were angry about the drugging incident and wanted to punish her or vent his anger, she would never utter a single complaint.

However, rumors of a marriage alliance had already circulated on the day of the banquet. If it wasn't almost certainly true, who would dare to spread rumors about the Prime Minister's daughter's marriage? In this era, a woman's reputation was of utmost importance.

So no matter how you look at it from a different angle, or how you go around in circles, you still can't get around the emperor.

The rain grew heavier, and the damp, humid air clung to my nasal cavity, traveling down to my chest, feeling as heavy as if a wad of cotton was stuffed inside, making it difficult to breathe.

Looking at the rainwater flowing continuously from the eaves, she couldn't help but think pessimistically, "If I really have to die, I just want to die in a dignified way."

The thought had barely crossed his mind when Xiang An was so frightened that he spat three times in a row: "Damn it! Am I crazy? Didn't I already know I would die before I gave the emperor the aphrodisiac? Since I already knew, why am I being so sentimental here?"

"This is insane, absolutely insane."

Thinking back to the bewitching emotions she had just experienced, Xiang An shuddered violently with lingering fear. She looked at the rain outside the window; it was still the same rain, falling just as it always had, neither heavy nor light, without any difference whatsoever. Thus, Xiang An was even more unable to understand why she had inexplicably felt sentimental towards the rain just now.

Looking down at the book spread out on the table, she saw the four characters "Put others before yourself" clearly written on it. Her lips twitched, and she slammed the book shut. She then noticed that the cover of the book read "Admonitions for Women".

"I'm definitely obsessed." Xiang An confirmed again, then slapped his forehead a few times to clear his head.

It's not that she's obsessed with books, it's that she's obsessed with them.

Although "Admonitions for Women" contains many derogatory remarks about women, some of its sayings are still meaningful, such as: "Do good deeds without seeking recognition, and do evil deeds without shirking responsibility."

If you extract the essence from this book, it is undoubtedly a good one.

But she actually connected her current state, which looks terrible, to a book just because of a rumor. It's really embarrassing.